Winning at the Losing Game

#1: Do it for Yourself

Unless you're losing weight for yourself, your efforts may be doomed. So says dietitian Anne Fletcher, who recruited 160 weight-loss "masters," as she calls them, for her 1994 book Thin for Life: Ten Keys to Success From People Who Have Lost Weight and Kept it Off.

When she asked yo-yo dieters what got them to finally keep off the weight after all their other attempts--it wasn't snide remarks from spouses, upcoming weddings, or any other external event. She found that they'd undergone a change in attitude.

Some described it as a "click" inside the brain or a "light bulb going on." A few cited an actual turning point in their lives. One 475-pound man lost 250 pounds after he nearly drowned in a boating accident because his weight obstructed rescuers. Others decided to lose after learning they had a weight-related medical condition, such as high blood pressure or heart disease.

In a nutshell, Fletcher learned that those who successfully keep the pounds off had decided trimming down was worth the changes they would have to make--whether starting an exercise program, getting marriage counseling, or quitting a job that required them to be around food all the time.

#2: Set Realistic Goals

Don't set your sights on a fantasy weight that will be near impossible to get down to and even harder stick with. According to author Anne Fletcher, the "masters," the people she found who succeeded in losing and keeping off weight, were always willing to settle for a more realistic target.

To set realistic goals, you should answer these questions:

1.What is the least you've weighed as an adult, for at least a year? Unless you've been extremely overweight all of your adult life, this is probably the lower limit of your realistic zone. It's unlikely that you would ever get your weight much below this figure.

2.What weight were you able to maintain during previous diets without feeling constantly hungry? This is another way to gauge the lowest end of your practical range. If you're always hungry, your chances of succeeding are slim, so make sure you set your goal at or above this weight.

How far above these lower limits should you go? Read on.

3.What is the largest size clothing you'd be happy with? Not the size of your dreams-but the largest size you would settle for and feel comfortable with. If you're a women, choose a dress size. If you're a man, choose a waist size.

As long as you're not fantasizing, thinking about these three questions should help you choose a reasonable target--not a final target, but a working target. Feel free to adjust your goal as you go, always trying to keep it reachable.

Remember: Losing just five to 10 percent of your current weight will improve your health and make you look and feel better.

#3: Don't Deprive Yourself

 What are your top three favorite high-fat or high-calorie foods? You know, stuff you really love.

Guess what? You don't have to give up those goodies. Among the master weight-losers she studied, Anne Fletcher found a common thread: Eventually, they all adopted sensible eating plans that they were content to stay on the rest of their lives--and they all made sure not to deny themselves their favorite foods.

Other studies back up that finding. Health educator Susan Kayman discovered two critical behaviors among successful dieters who kept off a significant amount of weight. They weren't as rigid about what they ate as the other dieters she studied, and they didn't feel deprived. Instead, they compromised on portions.

"One woman would take a half gallon of ice cream cut it into cubes, and wrap each cube individually so she wouldn't devour the entire carton at one sitting," says Kayman. That may sound a tad obsessive, but it illustrates how successful dieters find ways to make their diets work for them.

You can do the same: Don't label any foods forbidden--then you can indulge a little without triggering feelings of guilt. Dieters with an all-or-nothing mentality inevitably give up when they stray even a little.

The actual indulgence may matter less than the sense of control it can give you. Fletcher describes one woman who joined Weight Watchers at a time when the program was more restrictive than it is now. The only way she could tolerate staying on the program was to "cheat" by eating three chocolate chips every day.

The tiny extravagance paid off: She lost 57 pounds, and she's kept them off for 20 years.

#4: Cut the Fat

One of the most critical things you can do to get and keep your weight down is to watch how much fat you eat. Gram for gram, fat has more than twice the calories of carbohydrates.

What's more, researchers have found that certain individuals are inherently bad at burning fat. That means their bodies go to extraordinary lengths to store fat in fat cells rather than burn it for energy.

To lose weight, then, these people may have to restrict the fat in their diets to as little as 15 percent of calories--much lower than the currently recommended 30 percent. That works out to 34 grams of fat a day on a 2,000-calorie diet, or roughly 49 fewer grams than the average American gets each day.

It's important to watch fat intake, even if you're not a low fat burner. That's because as fat stores shrink, the rate of fat oxidation--how much fat the body burns for energy--drops. The result, says University of Colorado nutritionist James Hill: "If you eat the same proportion of fat in the diet as you did before you lost weight, you'll be more likely to store that fat in fat cells."

Four years ago Hill and Rena Wing, a psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh, advertised for people who had lost 30 pounds or more and kept them off for at least a year. They have collected detailed histories of 831 people, aged 19 to 81. And one thing they've learned is that you can cut fat without having to lead a spartan life.

One man in Hill and Wing's registry who lost more than 100 pounds likes to toss enormous salads with his own "thousand island" dressing, made from fat-free yogurt, ketchup, and pickle relish.

Others created their own low-fat versions of muffins, potato salad, pizza, lasagna, enchiladas, even pasta-shrimp primavera. Many successful dieters made finding tasty low-fat foods into an enjoyable hobby. As one put it: "Once low-fat was a permanent way of life for me, the search for great low- or no-fat chocolate treats began."

#5: Get Moving

A whopping 96 percent of successful weight losers in the registry put together by nutritionist James Hill and psychologist Rena Wing exercise regularly. And so should you.

Moving around keeps energy levels up, fends off stress, and makes you healthier, physically and emotionally. What's more, by burning extra calories, exercise helps to compensate for the metabolic drop that usually comes when you lose weight.

Consider a hypothetical 5 foot 8 inch woman who for years weighed 150 pounds, which she maintained on a diet of 2,500 calories. Let's say she slims down to 135 pounds. That 15-pound loss (10 percent of her weight) results in a 15 percent drop in the number of calories she burns. So unless she exercises to make up all or part of the difference, she can eat no more than 2,125 calories a day without gaining weight.

One study illustrating the benefits of exercise involved 110 overweight Boston city workers who went on spartan diets of 420 to 1,000 calories a day. Only half exercised--for 90 minutes, three times a week.

In two months, the sedentary dieters and the exercising dieters both had lost about 25 pounds. But after a couple more months, only the exercisers had maintained the loss.

When John Foreyt, a psychologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, reviewed existing weight studies, he found several factors predicting success. Among them were getting continued emotional support and maintaining normal eating habits, such as sitting down to three meals a day. But topping the list again was physical activity. "Ninety percent of people who lost weight and kept it off were regular exercisers," says Foreyt.

Don't worry. You don't have to take up marathon running or step aerobics. In Hill and Wing's registry of "successful losers," 98 percent who exercise simply walk.

Exercising 45 minutes a day is ideal, says Hill. For most people, that will ensure permanent weight loss. But he adds that you shouldn't fret about how long or how far you go. "Just make it a routine," he says.